Support Staff In Fayetteville School district To Get 1.29 Percent Pay Raise

Friday, August 29, 2014

FAYETTEVILLE -- Classified employees received a 1.29 percent step increase Thursday from the School Board.

Greg Mones, human resources director, said the increase will be retroactive to July 1 for the district's 700 classified employees and applies to fiscal 2014-15, which runs from July 1 to June 30.

At A Glance

Honors

• Woodland Junior High School’s Quiz Bowl team was recognized by the School Board after winning the 2014 Junior National Academic Championship in Chicago. It was Woodland’s first trip to the national competition. Team member Ryan Kim was named Most Valuable Player. Other team members are Steven Du, David Vega, Jacob Partridge, Jacob Huneycutt, Aubin Payne, Ibby Ogden, Sophie Harris and Kyle Mayer. Coaches are Richard Campbell and Lindsey Asbury.

• Bethany Strasser, a teacher at Ramay Junior High School, was recognized for being named the 2014 Arkansas Technology and Engineering Teacher of the Year.

Source: Staff Report

Classified employees include maintenance workers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and others in the district who don't need a state education license to work in a school district.

Superintendent Paul Hewitt said the 1.29 percent represents a comparable amount paid to teachers and other certified personnel in step increases they earn every year contractually.

"It's an issue of fairness," Hewitt told the board.

The increase will cost the district about $200,000, Hewitt said. As new superintendent, Hewitt said he put a hold on all spending, including pay increases, when he took over in July while he attempted to learn more about the district's financial situation.

Employees for both groups haven't received annual raises in the last few years because of a tight budget because of a projected drop in property taxes. Teachers, administrators, counselors and librarians are licensed by the state and received step increases for each year of service according to terms of their contracts.

After the 6-0 vote by the board, Tim Hudson, board president said, "I'm glad we can do this." Board member Justin Eichmann didn't attend the meeting.

In other business, Fayetteville High School was the center of attention in several reports throughout the meeting.

Bob Fogle, president of Nabholz Construction Services, presented the White Eagle Award to the board. The award is a small statue of an eagle and is presented by a statewide association of builders and contractors. The company won the award for Phase 1 of the high school renovation in an institutional category for projects more than $25 million.

Nabholz is the construction manager for the project.

Jared Brown, project manager, said the Bulldog Lobby on the north side of the school will open next week, giving students an another area of access to the building. The lobby fronts Bulldog Boulevard and was the main entrance to the school until two years ago when the new entrance on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard was finished.

The centerpiece of the Bulldog Lobby is in the floor. A gray bulldog against a white background, done in small ceramic tiles, survived the construction, Brown said. It wasn't cracked, broken or damaged during the construction on the addition, which opened Aug. 18, and the work on the east end of the building is scheduled for completion next August, he said.

Kathy Hanlon, the district's chief financial officer, told the board one of the first funds she reviewed when she assumed her new role was the construction fund. She found it in good shape, she said, with $10 million left for construction and other money left for expenses, such as furnishing new classrooms.

Kim Garrett, associate superintendent, updated the transition plan for freshmen to move to the high school next year, saying her goal is the process be "very transparent and open so that students, parents and teachers have a voice in the process."

"Communication to all stakeholders will be a priority. I am excited about the solid foundation of work that has been completed," she said.

NW News on 08/29/2014